Computers and other devices may be networked together using any one of a variety of architectures and any one of a variety of corresponding and compatible network protocols. An exemplary network architecture may include Ethernet. In at least some networked computers, the computer may include one or more network interface cards or controllers (“NICs”). Each NIC may include one or more connectors for interfacing to a compatible network connection. Via the NIC, the computer may couple to a central network device such as a repeater, hub, switch, or router.
Some computers may have multiple NICs thereby permitting a group of NICs to be “teamed” together. A team of NICs may have a single address (e.g., an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address) which facilitates communication through the team of NICs. To other logic and drivers, the team of NICs may appear as a single NIC. Not all NICs in a computer can or should be teamed together. For example, two NICs that are connected to different networks should not be teamed together.
Thus, it is desirable to ensure that a group of NICs that a user might desire to team together can be legitimately teamed together. Further, because network configurations may change, it may be desirable to verify that the NICs that are operated in an existing team continue to be eligible to be operated within their team.